deskthority

Here's a mirror if the video isn't available in your country.
http://mirror.ninja/dt97

Admittedly, some of the washing machines look pretty damn cool. I liked the comment on that rare black one about how only two are in captivity, as if there might be more out in the wild in their natural habitat!

"Does anyone need a shave!?"

Hah, this is great! I have to agree with OO2, lots of them look fantastic. I do love retro machinery.

That guy with 20-25 turquoise washing machines and tumble driers... who do you think could be a parallel for him in this community?

Once, I was very tempted to take home a Miele dish washer from the very early 70s. It still worked and was in good condition.

My favourite one is the one with the pounding action

scottc wrote: That guy with 20-25 turquoise washing machines and tumble driers... who do you think could be a parallel for him in this community?

Man, I don't think we have one. It seems so oddly specific to only like turquoise washing machines. Is liking a particular switch type as ridiculous as liking a particular colour of white goods? Are we as crazy as TurquoiseDude? On Launderthority does he have flair that says Turquoise Enthusiast?!!?!? AAHHHH!!!

A couple of years ago my wife wanted to replace our vacuum cleaner, and, in the process of doing her usual exhaustive internet research, discovered an entire sub-culture of vacuum cleaner enthusiasts, with 2 semi-competing groups, each of whom had their own masters and gurus, and who looked askance at each other.

double post, sorry

Yeah there are collectors for almost everything. I bet those washing machine enthusiasts grin upon us too. Keyboards? Jeez!

ha! i thought the 1938 Bendix was a kick drum.

i kind of want to change my nick to TurquoiseDude now

fohat wrote: A couple of years ago my wife wanted to replace our vacuum cleaner, and, in the process of doing her usual exhaustive internet research, discovered an entire sub-culture of vacuum cleaner enthusiasts, with 2 semi-competing groups, each of whom had their own masters and gurus, and who looked askance at each other.

All i know about old vacuum cleaners is there is a vintage hoover vacuum that has a dual mode ac and DC motor and you can run it on a 9v battery ( albeit slowly )

Is one based in Europe and liked old vacuums and one based in the US who likes overpriced silly buttons to put on there new ones ?

I wonder if newbies to the washing machine/vacuum forum post intro threads where they show off their new Dysons or Samsung front-loaders only to be ridiculed by the ancients.

"Hay guys just got my new Dyson animal here is a pic of it with my shoes"

002 wrote: I wonder if newbies to the washing machine/vacuum forum post intro threads where they show off their new Dysons or Samsung front-loaders only to be ridiculed by the ancients.

"Hay guys just got my new Dyson animal here is a pic of it with my shoes"

"DAE remember when vaccuum collecting meant visiting the dump and digging through actual garbage? now you can just buy fancy-looking low-quality replicas."

Haha these guys are awesome. Yeah it's awkward from the outside, but it's also endearing. Also, the prices of some of these monsters must be crazy.

Good for them i say. Its nice to have a hobby and its nice to keep old things like that running, just like a model f or beamspring.

Personally i just love well made stuff, and it just so happens that most well made stuff is very old . You should check out my 1940 desk fan , built like a tank, with solid brass gearbox and huge steel bolts holding the massive motor together. Things simply are not made like that anymore, if they where you would pay £1000 for a desk fan.

Its the same with electronics. Thats why i would rather spend 150 on this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111776443989? ... bfa1f&cp=1 ( please don't bid against me ). than buy a cheap crappy modern PSU from chana that will fail and burn my house down.

EDIT

I mean just looks at the wiring in this thing

https://youtu.be/4xrcBoe_x04?t=104

Thats a work of art, someone has poured there heart and soul into that for the simple reason that they love what they do and are an absolute master at it .

Meanwhile in china

https://youtu.be/rfPSXPVsDrY?t=143

I'm still wondering whether it's clever to channel your obsession into something rare and eccentric like those turqoise white-goods. On the one hand, your collection has a natural limit and will never grow real big; on the other hand, completion of your collection will always seem achievable to you, so the urge to buy the next item will be even stronger.
Compared with these nice folks, I'm certainly no collector - but maybe I'm just denying it.
Some boards I buy in order to use them or keep them as spares (those vintage board that have my preferred switches and keycaps). But some I buy out of curiosity - in order to really appreciate my favourites, I also want to know details about their precursors, siblings and descendants and about similar switches from competitors, the devices they've been used with and so on. Thus, I also spend time and money on library searches, journal articles, manuals and catalogues.
If it is more about knowing and finding out than about possessing, does it make me less a collector or is it even worse?

seebart wrote: ... I bet those washing machine enthusiasts grin upon us too. Keyboards? Jeez!

Aren't we just one community?

Hahaha that's awesome HAL! Oh man I'm ROTFLOL...

Quick hint: this washing machine is not a top loading one

Looks like an SSK from that angle, but with a rounded front more like a Model F, and similarly styled mods. An early model I've not seen before?

And it's inside… a… well, clearly, your… washing machine! My expertise is exhausted.

andrewjoy wrote:
Its the same with electronics. Thats why i would rather spend 150 on this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111776443989

If you have the capabilities, the books I used in tech school tell you how to build you own, very reliable, equipment.
Check out http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-Te ... 0790611309 I built a lot of equipment from here, because I could not afford ready-made ones.

Somewhat newer is this one, which was not available when I was in school http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-El ... 0071447245

I have the second, it's nicely written and has quite a few projects inside

HAL this pic is automatically nominated for the DT awards! Epic!
Definitely an SSK, and I guess AT mods?

elecplus wrote:

andrewjoy wrote:
Its the same with electronics. Thats why i would rather spend 150 on this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111776443989

If you have the capabilities, the books I used in tech school tell you how to build you own, very reliable, equipment.
Check out http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-Te ... 0790611309 I built a lot of equipment from here, because I could not afford ready-made ones.

Somewhat newer is this one, which was not available when I was in school http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-El ... 0071447245

chicken or the egg , you need stuff to build stuff. That psu is still a bargain 150 including p and p 2 hrs to go

"Then there's a 7A output on the far left that's adjustable between 4-6V" ... which is perfect for electro-etching sheet metal plate, for keyboard switch mountings etc.

Dang. Not going to bid, it's yours andrewjoy.

I have a plan to try galvanic etching of steel plate, some day...

This is what I figured I seemed like to non-keyboard enthusiasts, but perhaps not.

"Hey, hey, Fonz is cool!"

Long time no see. My sister had him on a badge, 35 years ago.

Edit: Ha! There it is, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151833208040

tigpha wrote: "Then there's a 7A output on the far left that's adjustable between 4-6V" ... which is perfect for electro-etching sheet metal plate, for keyboard switch mountings etc.

Dang. Not going to bid, it's yours andrewjoy.

I have a plan to try galvanic etching of steel plate, some day...

i think its for powering up massive amounts of TTL logic but that could work too

I was just thinking that it'll be cool to have joint meetups with these guys, we've got more in common with them than compared to the rest of society...